🔗 Share this article

Against a backdrop of sleet, snow, and a swirling wind off the waters of the Humber, alongside a resolute Hull City side fighting for promotion, this presented all the ingredients of a difficult night's work for the visitors.

"We could have added to our tally but the opposition are a strong team and it was a difficult fixture; I’m very pleased with the display," the manager stated. "Hull City means a lot to me so it was great to get a positive welcome from the fans of fans. The attitude of the lads was superb."

Liam Chelsea manager has this city dear to him, given some of his family hail from Hull and his enjoyable period in charge of the Tigers. His positive association continued with a commanding performance from his squad, who in the end strolled into the next round of the FA Cup.

Deadly Edge Seals Comprehensive Victory

Three days removed from letting slip a 2-0 lead in the league, there was a hint of vulnerability about Chelsea going into this intriguing tie. The packed Hull support evidently felt it too, but Rosenior's men navigated the task with ease.

Rosenior made alterations, enacting multiple of them to his XI. The tie might and maybe should have been settled earlier than it actually was, with two Estêvão Willian and Liam Delap guilty of missing excellent chances to put their side ahead in the opening period.

But, luckily for the away team, their Portuguese attacker was in a much more ruthless mood. He opened the scoring with a spectacular distance strike, which proved to be the spark for his team to assume control of the match. By full time, they had 4 goals, with Neto scoring a trio of them for a brilliant three-goal haul.

The Forward's Redemption and Impact

Hull displayed plenty of spirit throughout, but the clearer chances consistently fell Chelsea’s way. Estêvão ought to have opened the scoring when he went past goalkeeper Dillon Phillips before inexplicably firing over. Delap then had a comparable horror incident in front of goal against his former club.

He deflected a the goalkeeper's clearance which bounced back from the crossbar, and Delap started to run away thinking the ball had gone over the line. It had not, and by the time he realised, Hull's backline had reacted to avert the threat.

The player had his head in his hands after that miss, but he was hugely instrumental from that point onward, registering three assists. The first was for the opening goal as his pass teed up Neto to score from range. Shortly after the second half began, it was 2-0 as the forward's corner went directly in through the keeper's legs.

Tie Sealed and Focus Turns

Soon after the second goal, the match was put beyond doubt as a magnificent dribble from the forward teed up his teammate to slide into an unguarded goal. Neto then finished his treble as the provider once again delivered the decisive pass for the striker to calmly convert past a helpless Phillips.

By that stage, the work Hull had put in in the opening half-hour had long since erased. Their priority must now switch back to achieving a return to the Premier League under Sergej Jakirovic, who rested a number of first-choice players with that aim in mind.

"I think we deserved at least one goal but if we play like this we will be in a very good position in the Championship," he said. "Keep fighting, maybe in the next games this can be a good example of how we must play."

Hull showed great endeavour to the final whistle, and they almost got a consolation when a substitute hit a post in injury time. But this was the Blues' evening, and another positive stride for their new head coach at a place he is familiar with very well.

Cup History Are Promising

The result made for an ultimately routine evening’s work, and the cup competition omens are positive from here for the winners. They have faced Hull on three other times in this tournament in the last decade and on each occasion, they have progressed to make the showpiece. Much still work in that respect, but this was another significant tick for the Chelsea boss.